Thanks to the French, we have fiction (5)
I believe the answer is:
tales
'we have fiction' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'thanks to the french' is the wordplay.
'thanks' becomes 'ta' (UK informal version of 'thank you').
'to the french' becomes 'les' (plural form of 'the' in French).
'ta'+'les'='TALES'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tales that I've seen before include "Lies" , "accounts" , "Stories, yarns" , "They might be tall" , "reports" .)