Just take her to the gun shop and turn her loose. Light weight means heavy recoil. That trade off is very prominent in small revolvers. I would heavily caution against 357 as it gets absolutely painful in ultralight J frames. 38 can be pretty stinkin peppy in an ultralight, but it’s generally considered tolerable.
THIS ^^^^
I would like to add:
Have her handle some different revolvers and do not steer her on choices. 20 years from now she will remember when…if you get my drift. Let her handle some guns then take her to a range that rents guns and have her shoot a selection of guns to see what she likes.
My wife is not a shooter, but I wanted her to get familiar with my handguns to learn to shoot them all and to find out which one she was most comfortable with and which ones she shot most accurately.
She tried the following: (.38 special and 9mm)
S&W 442 - hated it. Too much recoil
S&W 36 - 2”- didn’t like it. Too much recoil. Terrible sights.
S&W 60 Pro - 3” - said it was “okay” but unimpressed.
S&W 10 - 4” - said it was “okay” but didn’t like sights.
S&W 19 - 6” - Too big and heavy
S&W 327 NG - 2.5” - Liked it…a lot!
Glock 45 9mm - too bulky. Didn’t like slide action under recoil.
Glock 19X (same size as G45 - told her that. She liked the color) too bulky. Didn’t like slide action under recoil.
The one gun I didn’t think she would like, the 327 Night Guard 8 shot N frame at 27 ounces with a snubby barrel was the one she picked. She now shoots it better that me.
Moral of the story - Let her pick “her” gun.