“I submit to you the true and unusual life story
of Harriet Belcher O’Brian, the Yankee mother of seven children. This narration includes her experiences, the days of her romantic youth, the exotic and exciting years of her early married life, and some of the glamour of her association with European Royalty. Much is told here for the first time about a famous American dentist who became Court Dentist of Saxony and who was Harriet’s first husband. There are anecdotes about and highlights in association with European royalty and internationally famous people such as: Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess of Saxony, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Anton Rubinstein, Emil Sauer, Joachim, Jerome K. Jerome, John Philip Sousa, Schumann-Heinck, and others....”
– Harold L. O’Brian
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Buy a print copy
$85
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Download a free copy
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Audiobook version
Coming in summer 2024
In the late 1930s, shortly after being reunited with his mother Harriet for the first time in 34 years, Harold L. O’Brian wrote the story of her life. Starting with her childhood in Providence, A Continental Yankee chronicles Harriet’s marriage to rising superstar dentist Lewis A. O’Brian, her years among celebrities and royalty in Europe, the scandalous circumstances leading to her divorce, her second marriage, her new career as a hotel manager, and how she survived World War II and the death of her second husband in Berlin before coming full circle back to Providence and reuniting with five of her seven children.
This 370-page illustrated edition, printed in 2023, includes photos, archival data, and other images to enhance and corroborate Harriet’s incredible story.
Are you part of the family?
If you are a descendant or relative of Harriet’s via her parents (Leander and Mary Belcher), her children (Etienne O’Brian, Harold O’Brian, Elsbeth O’Brian Ball, Dorothea O’Brian Quimby Gifford, Adelaide O’Brian Young, Evelyn Hommann Jones, and Leander Hommann), or another connection, we (descendants of Elsbeth O’Brian Ball) would love to be in touch with you to share the story and collect more information for future editions!