Does the Mules Foal conform to your expectations of a normal novel? In answering your question you will need to consider the setting, characters, plot and theme. You will also need to consider the genre and its influence on your reading.

The Mules Foal by Fotini Epanomitis, to me, is a normal novel because it tells a story and is about events that could be real. It is a story about three houses in a greek/turk village and about what happens inside these houses, as well as the people inside them. At the start of the story the narrator Mirella tells us that it is a 'story of houses, of what happens in them and between them.'
In other words, this book meets the wide definition of a novel, which is an 'extended work of prose fiction' (Abrams, 1971, pg 110) and has all the elements required for a novel such as plot, setting characters and point of view. The Mule's Foal is a normal novel because it fits the genre of Magic Realism. Each element of the novel is affected by its genre.

The Mule's Foal is a normal novel because it fits the definition of a novel. This book is obviously not based on true events because the events that take place are fantastical. This book also meets the narrower definition of prose romance, wh...