[1] With the publication of her book En la paz del campo in 1940, she became the first woman to publish a novel in Ecuador.
She spent her childhood on the family hacienda known as Quinta de Atocha, but she was orphaned by age 12.
She also taught high school at Colegio Bolívar, later becoming the rector of the Instituto Manuela Cañizares in Quito.
During her time as an educator she met the politician José María Velasco Ibarra, who, on becoming president of Ecuador, named her vice consul in Boston.
[4][5] Later in life she became the director of the Casa de Montalvo, a museum and cultural center in Ambato, whose eponymous magazine she edited for many years.