The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen: Travels with My Grandmother's Ashes

In her 2010 memoir, Affection, Krissy Kneen introduced readers to her unique family and the towering matriarchal figure of her grandmother. Stern, domineering, fiercely loving, Lotty Kneen—born Dragica—was always tight-lipped about her early life and family history. She rebuffed Krissy’s curiosity and forbade her from taking the trip back to the old country that might have satisfied it.

When her grandmother died recently, Krissy finally felt at liberty to explore the questions that had nag...