What makes a great novel?What makes a great novel? Is it the unknown, the lies, the secrets, the drive to understand what's happening? Many writers have expressed many opinions about what they think makes a great novel. Some believe it is the mystery within the novel. Some believe it to be the underlying message that the author is trying to portray to the reader, while others may believe it to be the escalating drama and conflict of the characters within the story. All these hypotheses and opinions may be true. Each writer has a unique gift that they want to share with a specific audience, rather than that audience being children, teenagers, young adults, and/or older adults. Most books have a dramatic structure, leading the reader through the introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and then the big ending. But do these qualities make it a great novel? A great book can offer so much to someone's life. A great book could be a gateway to imagination, excitement, intriguing the reader, giving them insights and all kinds of emotions. A great book can open a door that can change someone's life and help them find new ideas like never before. A great book has qualities of mystery, investigative intrigue, and conflict. A book gives the writer complete authority in a story. A great novel full of mystery can open the reader's mind and make them think or believe they know the answers, but then the author inserts a twist and changes the story. The writer controls what he wants to happen, what he wants the characters to do. do, who dies, who lives, etc... For example in the book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon, Mark Haddon could have easily given a different mysterious twist to the story of ma. ..... middle of the paper ...... helps push the book into becoming a great novel. A great novel is always necessary to help people not to be closed-minded but to see the picture, and with this it can help us grasp or evaluate the importance of a great novel in life. Works Cited Braddon, ME Lady Audley's Secret. Ware, Hertfordshire:worth Editions, 1997. Print.Doyle, Arthur C. "Sherlock Holmes Quotes - Sherlock Holmes Quotes." Sherlock Holmes Quotes - Sherlock Holmes Quotes. The Hound of the Baskervilles, 2012. Web. 28 February 2014. Haddon, Mark. The curious accident of the dog in the night. Berlin: Cornelsen, 2008. Print.Nin, Anaïs. ""The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.". Quotes about mystery (842 quotes). Goodreads Inc., 2014. Web. 02 March 2014. Webne-Behrman, Harry. "About conflict." About conflict. Web. 02 March. 2014.