Much of her work was published under the pen name Marchesa Colombi, a character in the comedy La satira e Parini by Paolo Ferrari.

She attended the primary school where her mother taught, and spent four years at the Bellini Institute of Arts and Crafts, where she excelled academically.

[2] While at the convent she began corresponding with the journalist Eugenio Torelli Viollier, who went on to found the Corriere della Sera, one of Italy's oldest newspapers.

She went on to write over 40 books, mostly consisting of short stories and novels intended for women and children, as well as two opera libretti.

She gave up writing, but remained active socially, establishing a salotto, or salon, frequented by musicians, intellectuals, and writers such as Arrigo Boito and Giuseppe Giacosa.