Alice Brown was born in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire on December 5, 1857, to Levi and Elizabeth Lucas Brown (Ancestry). She attended Robinson Female Seminary in Exeter, New Hampshire and graduated in 1976 (Levine). Following graduation, she taught at the school for five years before moving to Boston by herself at the age of 23. In Boston, she joined the staff of the Christian Register and began pursuing her writing career (Fisken 52).

Brown was one of the last writers of the New England local-color literary movement and authored 27 novels, ten short story collections, five full-length plays, five poetry collections, and more (Baker 101-110). She released her final book in 1935 (Fisken 52). Her most notable works are the short story collections Meadow-land and Tiverton Tales. She never married and died in Boston in 1948 at 90 years old (Fisken 53) (Ancestry).