After her father's death, and while she was still a young woman, Allan and her widowed mother moved to the west end of Glasgow.

[1] She was described as a petite woman with a soft voice and a retiring disposition who hosted elegant afternoon teas.

[1] She later became a prolific freelance writer and journalist who had articles and short stories published regularly in a range of newspapers and periodicals.

Despite finding both popular and critical success during the 1920s and 1930s, Allan abandoned her writing during both world wars to focus on nursing and charity work.

[2] Allan was a member of the Scottish PEN[1] and she used the organisation to distribute some of her inheritance to financially support the work of other writers.