I took a married couple out to the range last year. He had fired a rifle before (once) but never a handgun. Since he is built like a gorilla, after a bit of practice with a Smith & Wesson 586 he was consistently shooting six inch groups at ten meters -- very respectable for a beginner. But what got me was his wife, as frail and delicate as a tropical flower: I started her on .22 and she immediately complained that it was wimpy. She wanted, and got, my .40 S&W Steyr and loved it. She also managed passable groups although at only five meters, but then the Steyr is inherently less accurate than the wheel gun.
So, no, recoil is not going to bother you.
I would recommend, however, that you put your money and time into joining a club and delay the gun purchase for a short time. You will probably find members of your club willing to let you try out their various guns and might find something you like better.
so we switched her to a heavier rifle to dampen the recoil simply so it wouldn't pound her as much. Has she continued with the lighter rifle, she might have developed a flinch. However a few years (of competition) later she DID develop a flinch and it took quite a bit of coaching to get rid of it. (dry firing, firing the muzzleloader with only caps, etc)
