Return the compliment in a literate novel (9)
I believe the answer is:
retaliate
'return the compliment' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'a literate novel' is the wordplay.
'novel' indicates anagramming the letters (letters in a new or novel order).
'a'+'literate'='aliterate'
'aliterate' anagrammed gives 'RETALIATE'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for retaliate that I've seen before include "Hit back" , "Strike back, avenge" , "Get revenge" , "Make tit-for-tat attack" , "Take revenge for a perceived wrong" .)