The novel as a literary genre poses distinct challenges and opportunities when it is translated from one language and culture into another. This paper investigates the process of translating novels, analysing how genre-specific features of the novel—such as narrative voice, temporality, character development, cultural reference, idiom and style—interact with translational decisions. The study draws attention to theoretical frameworks in translation studies and genre theory, situating novel-translation in the intersections of literary studies, translation studies and cultural sociology. It explores the translator’s agency, the reader’s reception and the market forces shaping what gets translated and how. The paper further discusses key strategies for dealing with non-equivalence, style preservation, and cultural transposition, and reflects on the increasingly prominent role of machine-aided approaches to novel translation. In conclusion, it argues that translating novels is not simply a question of linguistic transfer but an act of cultural mediation and aesthetic recreation, requiring both fidelity and creative adaptation.