setting - Any advice on creating fictional locations in real places when writing historical fiction?

I am currently working on a historical fiction novel set during the tail end of the Harlem Renaissance, in the 1930s. As such, I would really like to have the story take place in Harlem. However, the specific places I plan to have my characters interact with, are at the moment, fictional. How much will this throw off readers?

For example, the story centers around a troupe of actors. If I place them in a made up theatre on Lenox Avenue, and no such theatre existed on Lenox Avenue in the 1930s, will that then make the novel less realistic?

Any advice is appreciated! Just want to make sure I can actually make this story work before I get too emotionally invested in it.

Answer

Creating fictional places within a real world setting not only works in fiction, but it's extremely common.

Creating the the fictional space is helpful because it allows you to flesh it out however you wish. You don't have to worry about getting it wrong (though you'll still have to do your research to make sure it's consistent with the time and place). And you don't have to worry about creating falsehoods about real life people (some of whom could conceivably still be alive, or their children could be).

I'm someone who often looks up the facts when I'm done with a book (or especially a movie, because of the visual imagery). Did this place exist? Did this character exist? Did this really happen? I'm never disappointed to find out that an author bent the facts if the work is fiction (when it's based on real people, that's another story, but still often okay), I just incorporate the reality along with the book/movie in my worldview about it.

Creating a fictional theater in a real neighborhood sounds like a perfect combination of history and fiction to me.

I'm doing something similar myself. In my book, the characters hail from a small town in Arizona in 1995. It's in Yavapai County (north of Phoenix) and maybe a half hour drive from Prescott (which was the largest town in the county in 1995).

Because my town is fictional, I'm free to use whatever features I want that fit my story. For example, it's very important to the story that I have a lake that is a particular size and shape with a small beach and a dock. I could alter it some if needed but, one, I don't want to and, two, not by much. There is no town near a lake that fits my needs in the area (even if I expand the area quite a bit). But there are plenty of towns similar to what I have and plenty of lakes that are close to what I'm looking for. The town/lake I need is completely plausible, it just doesn't actually exist.

I also get to set up the school how I want, the neighborhoods, and the businesses/services that do and don't exist in town. Not to mention some important historical events that are, again, very plausible, they just didn't happen here.

Your goal is to make your setting so realistic that people have to go look it up to know if your version is real.

There are no shortcuts with research just because your setting is fictional. Each detail is going to have to be right. Within those constraints though, you're free to create whatever you wish.

Creating the setting is very much like creating the characters. They never existed in real life but they have to feel like they did.

So go ahead and write this book. You have a solid start.