In "Taken by Surprise" by Edward I. Maxwell, why is the topic more important to the story

than just the plot?

what?

I apologize for the confusion. Without more context or information about the specific book, it is difficult to provide a direct answer to your question regarding the importance of the topic in "Taken by Surprise" by Edward I. Maxwell. It would be helpful to provide more details about the book's plot or themes to discuss why the topic is important to the overall story.