### Clue: Best year for character in Stowe (5)
### Answer: TOPSY 
 ### Explanation: Definition: character in Stowe
 TOPS(the best,the cream) + Y(abbrev. for year).
Answer:  Character in American author Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", from which is derived the phrase "growed like Topsy" or "grew like Topsy".