While most of Sandler's fiction takes place in the post-war Bessarabia of his youth his subject matter ranges from historical novels about the Kishenev Pogrom and novellas about the Holocaust to portrayals of immigrant Jewish life in Israel and New York and even occasional science fiction. In addition to strong influences from classic Yiddish writers such as Sholem Aleichem and modernist Yiddish writers such as David Bergelson Sandler's fiction often incorporates elements of Magic realism. Among Sandler's frequent themes are intergenerational trauma resulting from the Holocaust, the effect of totalitarian political regimes on the lives of artists and writers, the fate of Yiddish language and culture in the 21st century and the impact of immigration on multigenerational families.