First pistol my wife shot was my Taurus 24/7 Pro in .45 She did not care for it because of the recoil and her wrists. She has never really fired a handgun before, but she did not do too bad for a first timer. We only shot around 2 5-shot groups and stopped (have home backyard pistol range). Borrowed a Walther P22 from a friend. It shoots the .22 LR and she did quite well with that little German pistol. I really liked it and chewed the center out of the targets with it. It is light, but with .22 there is little recoil. She really like it a lot over my .45
Next we shot a Ruger bull barrel .22. She liked the recoil on it as well, (negligible) but it was kind of heavy for her to hold. She did good on it on the targets. I chewed the center out of targets before giving it back to my friend.

Bought a Bersa Thunder .380 and she shoots that pretty well. She likes the .22 better but can manage with this .380 quite well, and is not near as timid about it as the .45 Taurus. The .380 with those Remington Golden Sabers, or when I get them the new Hornady Critical Defense will make it a more suitable defense at home than either the broom or a .22 pistol. However, the .22 has had it's share of ending many a Bad Guys crime spree and put meat in the pot.
Now, I'm keeping my eye out for the FireStorm .22 LR, also made by Bersa. Looks like and feels like the Thunder .380 but shoots the .22 long rifle cartridge and should be great at range training as it is like the .380 only cheaper and no recoil. Yes, there is some recoil. Even a .22 has recoil. Just is a matter of own personal ideas on "how much".
Bersa should come out with the Thunder series in .22 and call it the Bersa .22i pistols for "intro" pistols to learn on.