She joined the staff of the Greek newspaper Atlantis in New York City, but after six months of this, she gave up journalism and became a teacher of French at the Comstock School (New York), where she remained until 1903, except for a brief interval in 1901 when she returned to Turkey for a visit. In 1904 she was married to Kenneth Brown, novelist, and soon began to write. Her second book, Haremlik, published in 1909, commanded wide attention.
Brown was born on the island of Bouyouk Ada, Sea of Marmora. Her early life was passed in close touch with the Turkish people. She ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage, and came to the United States with the family of a relative.