Sounds like something you clean up and put away get your wife a what ever she is comfortable with some like 9mm some like .380's some are hard core and shoot .44 mags the best way is for you and her to go to a gun shop and see what she is comfortable holding.
S&W bodyguard is a great choice not just because of the size or how easy it is to shoot for a woman but because it has a safety which a lot of the other .380's dont have
A few friends and I ordered a couple guns from them. Took the 2.5hr ride to Goshen. The service was great and the prices even better will defenitly be buying from them again.