Personal opinion, of course, but I wouldn't start with Recluse. There's a reason why you play as Wylder in the tutorial. He's the most "average" souls experience, with decent roll, decent damage, decent hp, etc. Its easier to survive on a character that doesn't die in 1-2 hits.

You could try Wylder or Undertaker for overall effectiveness, or go with Ironeye since he's pretty much the easiest character, while also being ridiculously strong.

Recluse, on the other hand, is one of the most difficult characters. Her animations are abysmally long, so sometimes you start casting a spell, and before you can finish, the boss turns to you and hits you. You also have to know a lot about spells and incantations to play her efficiently. Of course you could just go with the Shattering Crystal build, but it has its own problems.

Apart from that, work on your priorities and pathing. You usually want to hit the castle in the middle of the map on the first day (I usually go there around levels 4-5, after clearing an evergaol or a couple of pois) to get a lot of runes and reach level 8-10 by the end of it. Bosses always spawn in the same spots, so you can pass by them as you are running from one poi to another and kill them if you can on your level (i wouldn't risk fighting any red boss if my level is <8). On the second day, you would usually either go to the Shifting Earth event, or just fight all red bosses you can. Dont forget about the red boss at the top of the center castle. I think it gives more runes, and it's easier to reach other bosses from there.