Aging women in literature and popular culture are often associated with negative features such as nagging, covetousness or decay. Not so in the works of A. B. Yehoshua. Although it is true that in The Lover, the Sephardic grandmother awakens from her coma only briefly - impressing all her nurses with a remarkable sharpness of mind, yet dying soon after at home, abandoned, paralyzed and unable to guide the destiny of her sole descendant. Nevertheless the scene of her awakening remains among the most powerful and moving passages that Yehoshua ever wrote. From his earliest story, “Death of the Old Man” to his most recent novella (“Im/Em ha-elohim,” forthcoming in 2021), Yehoshua’s mature ladies tend to be movers and shakers of the action. In his late novels they are generally the beloved partners of a male protagonist, who views them with respect, gratitude and passionate desire. This talk will focus on the empowering role of three aging women across Yehoshua’s career: the lawyer Dori from The Liberated Bride, the teacher Daniela from Friendly Fire, and the elderly pediatrician from The Tunnel.