the lady smith & wesson 38 has been a great choice for years, the browning bda in 380 is a great gun if you are more after an auto style

I wen't through so much with my wife when getting her a handgun, I'll just omit that saga here.
Bottom line its an individual choice. A lot of issues are in their minds, and many issues are real world. A mid-level .38 to us, isn't always as mild to them.
One man's wife might can wield a .357 snub with no glitch, because she was raised shooting. Another man's wife will never be taught to control such a weapon. Maybe some dope gave them a .44mag and laughed at them when it skinned their fingers.
That's hard to untrain.

I finally ended up borrowing a SP-101 Ruger in .32 H&R magnum for my wife, with a 3" barrel. She loved the way it felt and it pointed naturally for her. She was actually a surprising good shot with it, which built up her confidence greatly.
I bought it for her, and never looked back.
I KNOW she can defend the house with that gun when I'm gone.

+1 ,Could not say it better.How about the recoil on that new .327?