Her Husband Died 4 Months After Welcoming Their First Child. How Raising a Newborn as a Widow Taught Her 'Defiant Joy' (Exclusive)
- - Her Husband Died 4 Months After Welcoming Their First Child. How Raising a Newborn as a Widow Taught Her 'Defiant Joy' (Exclusive)
Zoey LyttleJanuary 14, 2026 at 8:00 AM
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Brielle Persun
Brielle Persun with her son, Colby. -
In January 2025, Brielle Persun's husband Tyler died due to complications related to his pancreatitis. Four months before his death, the couple welcomed their first child
The book influencer has evolved her content beyond simply recommending and discussing literature, though that is how she originally built her following, which now totals over 23,000
In addition to "Bookstagram" content, Persun has also folded in lifestyle vlogs, posts about single motherhood, open conversations about grief and even updates on her skincare journey
The trajectory of Brielle Persun's life took two fiercely sharp turns over the course of months. In August 2024, she and her husband Tyler became parents; the following January, Persun became a single mother.
At 12:34 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2025, Tyler died from complications of pancreatitis. The couple only just started building their life together before it came crashing down. They'd only recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary. Their infant son, Colby, wasn't even 5 months old.
When her husband died, Persun was just opening her motherhood chapter, but she was well into her career as a "Bookstagram" influencer. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, she'd been building a digital community of readers, recommending and discussing literature through her @BookswithBrielle pages on Instagram and TikTok.
Brielle Persun
Brielle Persun.
Books served as a comfort in the aftermath of her family tragedy. As Persun told PEOPLE in June, she paged through fantasy books, relishing the escapism of unfathomable worlds. She wanted to continue sharing online, but going back to regular content didn't feel right anymore, and not just because she was close enough with her Bookstagram friends to tell them about Tyler's death.
Persun decided that she would expand her social media presence. It became a more authentic reflection of the way her life looked after Tyler's death, focusing still on books, of course, but also on grief and single parenthood. Her output became more well-rounded, evolving into a broader lifestyle category and welcoming anyone into her audience: literature lovers, widows, moms and far beyond.
One year after Tyler's death, Persun tells PEOPLE that she never noticed any pushback regarding the change in her content, which now features day-in-the-life vlogs, outfit-of-the-day posts, open discussions about grief and skincare content in addition to book talk.
"I didn't feel like I had a shift of people being like, 'We no longer want to be around for this. We came here for book recs and book recs only,'" says the creator, who has over 23,700 Instagram followers. "Even if I started to work with certain brands and things, I always wanted to make sure that it felt natural."
Every step of her foray beyond just Bookstagram was colored by the death of her husband. Persun says she was particularly cautious about perception. "You walk a fine line being a widow," she notes. Social media only sees about five minutes of her day, but the book lover is all too aware of how some viewers piece together brief slices of life and call it a full picture.
"They don't realize that, yeah, I'm still having a rough day. But I can't always come on here and just be the Debbie Downer that is all the time," she reflects.
Brielle Persun
Brielle Persun with her son, Colby.
Snap judgements may be the price of her new online presence, but for the most part, Persun views it as a small tax on the greater benefit. By candidly addressing the topic of mourning and its many nuances, she's had the gratifying experience of connecting with people going through loss of any kind, widows included
"Being really transparent about my journey with grief allowed people to finally be like, 'Wait, somebody else is going through this, it's not just me. And she's kind of living her life, not just dwelling in the grief of it, but really trying to find healthy ways to go through my grief journey,'" she observes.
Looking ahead into her second year without Tyler, Persun is hoping to further build out her network of followers, friends and supporters. Earlier in her grief journey, Persun leaned into what she calls "defiant joy." She defines it as a way to adamantly seek pockets of happiness amid all of the pain. The mom says she finds joy with less and less defiance as she continues on her grief journey, but it's something she's keen to continue to impart on her online community.
"I really want to be able to reach out to way more people through my platforms because I think it's helpful. I know it's helpful for me to be able to talk to other people," she says.
It may sound contradictory to the concept of her defiance — that fight for joy and battle against pain — Persun is also envisioning a "peaceful" new year for herself and Colby.
"I don't need something big to happen to me. I don't need big moments. I just want to grow with my son and celebrate really small moments, because they're big anyway," Persun tells PEOPLE. "I want to tiptoe into 2026, and I just want to live and breathe easier than 2025 was."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
