Published: 25 February 2010
by PETER GRUNER

WELCOME to the zany world of East of Islington, with characters like the Gay Opera Singer, Lesbian Mum, Dazzling Darren, Poshy and Glammy.

No surprise if you recognise some of these comic but endearing figures, because author Sam Taylor, who lives at the Angel, has been quietly observing and writing about them for almost a decade.

Now her popular column, East of Islington, which appears regularly in The Oldie magazine, has been transposed into a novel of the same name, and, according to Waterstones at Islington Green, is already a bestseller.

Sam, 46, is a mother of two and married to Mark Wilson, the owner of Cross Street Art Gallery. 

She is also a freelance commissioning editor for the Mail on Sunday.

She was encouraged to launch the column by Richard Ingrams, editor of The Oldie, and former editor of Private Eye, who liked the way she gently poked fun at characters in her previous writings.

“Islington, home to the chattering classes, is also full of people originally from conventional backgrounds, who moved in to work and now lead busy, disparate lives,” Sam says. “But there’s always the danger of loneliness and isolation, so near neighbours become like little supportive families of residents. And from these groups emerge characters who have the confidence to really be themselves.”

One such is Gay Opera Singer, a costume-loving high baritone, who encourages people to sing to overcome their anxieties. He’s extremely popular in countries which are at war.

He’s married to Dazzling Darren, a lycra-legged dancer who is big in Norway, where he teaches the tango to elderly ex-Hollywood actresses. At their wedding, Gay Opera Singer arrived with his finger sliced off – forever known as the fickle finger of fate. In a bid to up his profile, and pay the bills, he also opened a weekly dance academy aimed firmly at the older woman.

Les Mums are at the forefront of the East of Islington family circle. Lesbians, they have little Liam through sperm donation gathered from a tall Irish actor. 

Although anonymous, there is no doubt in their minds that their baby’s father is the international film star, Liam Neeson.

Piano Pete is a middle-class Englishman with no real visible means of support who, ever since moving to the area, has been looking for a girlfriend. His determination is motivated by the certain knowledge that if he doesn’t get married and have children he will miss out on the family fortune.

Right on Rev is the ex-priest turned local Unitarian minister. He doesn’t wholly believe in God, but his non conformist chapel is open to all liberals who are looking for some nice music and a good cappuccino.

Poshy and Glammy had to abandon their experiment in countryside living after their dog, Obi Wan Kenobi, molested a neighbour’s tortoise and the pair became social outcasts. Now they are back, Glammy has set about reviving their involvement in the arts, with often bizarre consequences.

The book gets its East of Islington title because some of the action takes place across the border in neighbouring Stoke Newington. 

This is where Susie Round the Bend, 40, single, and taking stock on her life, lives in a neighbourhood of confirmed bachelors and Hassidic rabbis. 

In order to get a date for the festive season she would either have to go kosher or learn the dance moves to the Village People.

• East of Islington. By Sam Taylor. Gibson Square £7.99