Gloria Isabel was born on 20 July 1911 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia, the daughter of a mining engineer. At three, her family moved to New Zealand, and considers herself a New Zealander. She lived in Auckland, from 1926 to 1936. On 1937, she married Thomas Henry Bevan, a building inspector, and they had three daughters: Typist, Watkin and Wallis.

After leaving school she worked as a typist, but she had been writing stories for as long as she could remember and feel "there's a certain magic about writing even when the characters refuse to act the way I want them to." She not begin to publishing until she was well into her fifties, first detective novels as Fiona Murray in 1965, and later under her married name, Gloria Bevan, she wrote 25 contemporary romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1969 to 1992, many of which are setting in her loved New Zealand. When not writing, she explored the many and varied exotic locations within reach of her suburban Auckland home. Her obvious love of her country and her particular talent for weaving interesting background information into her novels make her one of the more popular romance novelist. She met her fellow New Zealand romance writer Essie Summers.