A novel is an invented prose narrative of significant length and complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience. Most novels are works of fiction—they are not presented as fact, though they may be based on a true story. The novel’s roots can be traced back thousands of years, though its origins in English are traditionally placed in the 18th century. Examples of novels include Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719), Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace (1865–69), Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises (1926), and Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987).
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