Her first book, Gender and Modern Irish Drama, was published in 2002 by the Indiana University Press. In it, she argues that the representations of sacrificial violence central to the work of the Abbey playwrights are intimately linked with constructions of gender and sexuality. Gender and Modern Irish Drama won two awards: the Donald Murphy Prize for Distinguished First Book at the American Conference for Irish Studies in 2003 and the Robert Rhodes Prize for Books on Literature, also at the American Conference for Irish Studies in 2003. Indeed, it was the first book in ACIS history to win both the first book and the best book prizes.