In the works of contemporary French novelist and playwright Marie NDiaye, mothers feature prominently as protagonists. The mother/daughter relationship is explored in some depth, and although, in line with recent theorizing on the representation of this relationship, the mother is often represented through the mediation of the daughter and is suppressed or denigrated, the mother’s voice does sometimes break through. This article looks specifically at some of the grandmothers who also feature in NDiaye novels through three short, contrasting studies. Their representation picks up, in varying provocative ways, issues of maternal and grandmotherly sexuality and its uneasy coexistence alongside the maternal and grandmotherly roles. The article illuminates the powerful individuality of three grandmothers from across NDiaye’s oeuvre, focusing on the ambivalence of their subjectivity.