Anyone read "The Flint Heart"? Weird!

[MsAmerica]

Has anyone read the 1910 book "The Flint Heart" by Eden Phillpotts?

It is one weird book. It starts off with a sort of charming, humorous colloquial writing style, talking to children, but then proceeds to a very peculiar plot of a pre-historic artifact that makes people mean, bossy, and greedy. These children of a family where the father has unearthed the artifact, and inexplicably turned nasty, seek help from local fairies, who are the least appealing fairies I've run across in a long time (from an adult point of view).

I'm guessing this was very popular in its day, but it's short on logic, short on character development, and the early charm quickly dissipates. Couldn't help thinking that the idea reminded me of Tolkien's One Ring, though.